Schindler's masterpiece: The Wall crowned the most successful German player in PDC history
PDC
Not so long ago, Martin Schindler was considered a failed talent by many darts fans and experts. The former PDC World Youth Championship finalist was in a deep creative crisis, missed out on the 2021 World Darts Championship and lost his Tour Card as a result. Just a few years later, the 28-year-old has reached the pinnacle of his career to date and is considered the most successful German in PDC history after his Players Championship triumph yesterday.
On Tuesday evening, at around 7:00 pm, the big moment had finally arrived: Martin Schindler placed his right foot on the oche, a broad grin spread across his face as he successfully pocketed the match dart on the double 10. The first Players Championship title of his career was perfect.
It was the well-deserved reward for his hard work - both in terms of Schindler's entire career and his performance at the eighth Players Championship tournament in Hildesheim. "If I'm honest, I didn't play great today," said The Wall afterwards, assessing his day at the tournament, which he finished with an overall average of 91.3 points.
In the semi-final against Patrick Geeraets in particular, it was clear that Schindler had lost all his ease for a while. The Wall struggled with huge outbursts and hardly seemed to have his darts under control with an average in the 70s. But Schindler once again proved his irrepressible will, fought back impressively from 3-6 down and crowned himself the second PDC Players Championship title winner in German darts history in the later final against Jeffrey de Graaf.
The most successful German in PDC history
After his two European Tour successes last year, Schindler's triumph at Players Championship 8 crowned him the most successful German player in PDC history to date.
Max Hopp, who was the first German to win a PDC Players Championship tournament in Dublin in 2018 and secured his first European Tour title at the German Darts Open in Saarbrücken in the same year, continues to occupy second place on the German list of titles. The list of honors is completed by Ricardo Pietreczko, who also triumphed on the European Tour in 2023.
With his title win yesterday, Schindler has joined another elite group: He is now one of the few PDC players to have won both a Players Championship and a European Tour tournament. The German is the 34th player to achieve this feat.
What is remarkable, however, is that Schindler belongs to an even more exclusive group: only eight players have achieved this double in a single year. It is also striking that it has almost become a German-speaking tradition to first win the European Tour title before triumphing at a Players Championship tournament - a feat previously only achieved by Max Hopp and Mensur Suljovic.
Attacking the top 16 in the world rankings?
Unsurprisingly, Schindler's title win goes hand in hand with positive developments in the various money rankings. In the Players Championship Order of Merit, Schindler improved by a full 31 places and now occupies a shared sixth place.
The German is ranked third in the Pro Tour Order of Merit and is only 6,000 pounds behind world number one Luke Humphries. Schindler is currently in first place among the Pro Tour players in the race to qualify for the World Matchplay - so The Wall can already put the flight tickets for his trip to Blackpool in his shopping cart.
Pro Tour Order of Merit, Players Championship Order of Merit, World Matchplay Race... all well and good, but what about the world rankings? Thanks to his Players Championship title, Schindler has moved up one place in the official PDC Order of Merit and currently occupies 22nd position.
The Wall is currently 50,500 pounds away from becoming the first German player in PDC history to break into the top 16 of the world rankings. In the current Tour Card Race, the virtual world ranking list after the 2026 World Darts Championship, Schindler is already ranked 18th in the Order of Merit. So the chances are good that the 28-year-old will soon add another glorious chapter to German darts history.
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- you've printed the wrong score for the final.colt18-03-2025
- Covid or the vaccine. Which one done him?Mysstree16-03-2025
- Beau also skipped Players Championships 7 & 8 next week, and PC 3 & 4 four weeks ago. If she next chooses to miss the Women's Series and PC 13 & 14 in mid-April then we can make a fair guess as to her reason.Scoobedybop13-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- Aspinall was a no-show: Carl Sneyd steps in from the Challenge Tour.Scoobedybop11-03-2025
- Likewise, I have always been a fan of Mervyn and with this worry on his mind, it explains why his form and ranking plummeted. It is really sad to hear this, often chatted to Mervyn and Tracey during the Lakeside days, both are lovely people. It does seem naive not acknowledging the fact it was earnings, surely there must be others in the same situation. I really hope the Kings can get through this....would a go fund me be permittedrichieburnettrocks11-03-2025
- I always like Merv,but he does he seems slightly naive with his comments. I wish you all the best, hope you can get sorted,and try and get back to a decent game,a bit of money.....and get rid of the dogs,if that's your main concern,I believe your priorities may be slightly wrongrick6710-03-2025
- What’s with the dogs element to this story, trying to pull at the heart strings? Just goes to show that being a good dart player does not equate to being that bright. Seriously, ‘I thought you didn’t have to pay tax on winnings’ , your a pro dart player and its your line of work, your not playing the lottery or placing a bet. I think it was Phil Taylor who said you should put a third to one side of all winnings into a bank account, obviously Merv was wearing his earplugs at the time.Mysstree10-03-2025
- The thing is... the folks who "humiliated" Taylor in the Seniors Events never really achieved anything in the important events - like Taylor did. Taylor had/has nothing to prove... and beating Taylor after he had retired is of zero value. Taylor in his prime would have made easy work of all of them. Cheers.MrYnyslas197107-03-2025